Page 78 of Her Reborn Mate

“Because his actions haven’t earned him the right to be buried in the commune’s graveyard,” I said.

“That’s fair,” he said. “Besides, he was always going on about how he wanted to go back to Germany. Given that this is the sea, it’s the closest to Germany he’ll ever get.”

We quietly dug Fred’s grave using jagged rocks from the cove. It was a shallow grave, but it served the purpose well. Will laid Fred’s body in there, then covered it with sand and added a headstone at the edge.

“Goodbye, brother,” Will said.

“Goodbye indeed,” I said. “Would you like to say a few words?”

“Only that I wished things had been different between him and me. If we had truly been brothers, we would have been unstoppable. I would have wished that he loved me as I loved him. There’s no redemption after death. But I hope that Vincent, his grandson, carries on a good legacy on Fred’s behalf. Hopefully, that would bring some peace to Fred’s soul.”

“Amen,” I said.

***

Now we were standing outside the commune. The journey back in the Jeep from the coves to the commune had been a quiet one. Will hadn’t talked because he had just buried his brother. I was too exhausted and had fallen asleep on the drive back.

Will parked the car in the garage and helped me get out of the car. The commune looked strange. There was no one there besides the two of us. All the lights were shut off, pitching the entire place into darkness.

“What’s with the darkness?” I asked.

“I’m as clueless as you are. Come, let’s go inside the house,” he said, taking my arm and taking me inside his home.

“Do you know what’s strange?” I asked. “It’s how someone like him, so old and weak, could manage to plant all those bombs in the city on such short notice. I mean, some of the locations where the bombs were planted were hard to get to. There was a bomb planted on the top of the antenna tower.”

“It’s like….” Will struggled to remember something. “He said something about the vampires helping him plant the bombs. But I doubt if he was telling the truth at that moment. He also said that he didn’t know where Blair was. Even when he was so near to death, he didn’t reveal his secrets.”

“Well, if it wasn’t Blair, who do you think it was?” I asked. I didn’t really need an answer. I was just trying to hold a conversation with Will. Otherwise, he’d become occupied with thoughts of his dead brother. I couldn’t let that happen to my mate. Tonight was supposed to be a night of joy and celebration. Not morosity.

“I think someone was working with him until the very last moment. It’s not clear who. What do you think we’ll do?” he asked, sitting on the lounge sofa and taking off his shoes.

I went to the kitchen and took out a bottle of whiskey from the shelf. I placed one glass in front of Will and the other in front of me and poured us shots.

“Don’t you worry about what we’ll do. We’ve handled worse odds than this. I think we can take on whatever challenge lies ahead. Besides, with all these people dead, it’s just Blair. With the pack at its strongest and with you and I by each other’s side, I don’t think that there’s going to be any trouble dealing with Blair either.”

“To Fred,” I said, raising my glass.

“To Fred,” Will replied. “He was a terrible brother, but he was my brother. And now I have none.”

While we sat there, tired, drenched, and drinking, some commotion came from outside. It looked like the rest of the pack had finally arrived back at the commune. I could see the lights from the window—a lot more lights than there usually were.

“Why don’t you go check that out? I’m going to get changed,” I said.

“I’ll check it out,” Will said.

I went into the bedroom and took some loose and warm clothes that I could throw on without having to iron them. I put on a sweatshirt and pajama pants and then went after Will.

But Will wasn’t there at the door. He was standing outside with only his silhouette showing. From the other side of the door, a lot of glimmering lights shone into the rectangular door-shaped shadow on the floor.

I went outside and stood by Will’s side, anticipating something strange.

Instead, the entire pack had gathered around our house, holding streamers, a huge cake, and wearing party paraphernalia.

“Surprise!” They all yelled at the same time, with Vince standing at the front holding a huge banner that said:Thanks For Saving the Town and Happy Engagement Part 2.

Will laughed out loudly as he read the banner.

“Did you guys have it all planned out beforehand?” Will asked as he chuckled and came forward.

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